Modelling vaccination capacity at mass vaccination hubs and general practice clinics: a simulation study.
COVID-19
Health services research
Queues
Stochastic network models
Vaccination
Journal
BMC health services research
ISSN: 1472-6963
Titre abrégé: BMC Health Serv Res
Pays: England
ID NLM: 101088677
Informations de publication
Date de publication:
19 Aug 2022
19 Aug 2022
Historique:
received:
10
02
2022
accepted:
03
08
2022
entrez:
19
8
2022
pubmed:
20
8
2022
medline:
24
8
2022
Statut:
epublish
Résumé
COVID-19 mass vaccination programs place an additional burden on healthcare services. We aim to model the queueing process at vaccination sites to inform service delivery. We use stochastic queue network models to simulate queue dynamics in larger mass vaccination hubs and smaller general practice (GP) clinics. We estimate waiting times and daily capacity based on a range of assumptions about appointment schedules, service times and staffing and stress-test these models to assess the impact of increased demand and staff shortages. We also provide an interactive applet, allowing users to explore vaccine administration under their own assumptions. Based on our assumed service times, the daily throughput for an eight-hour clinic at a mass vaccination hub ranged from 500 doses for a small hub to 1400 doses for a large hub. For GP clinics, the estimated daily throughput ranged from about 100 doses for a small practice to almost 300 doses for a large practice. What-if scenario analysis showed that sites with higher staff numbers were more robust to system pressures and mass vaccination sites were more robust than GP clinics. With the requirement for ongoing COVID-19 booster shots, mass vaccination is likely to be a continuing feature of healthcare delivery. Different vaccine sites are useful for reaching different populations and maximising coverage. Stochastic queue networks offer a flexible and computationally efficient approach to simulate vaccination queues and estimate waiting times and daily throughput to inform service delivery.
Sections du résumé
BACKGROUND
BACKGROUND
COVID-19 mass vaccination programs place an additional burden on healthcare services. We aim to model the queueing process at vaccination sites to inform service delivery.
METHODS
METHODS
We use stochastic queue network models to simulate queue dynamics in larger mass vaccination hubs and smaller general practice (GP) clinics. We estimate waiting times and daily capacity based on a range of assumptions about appointment schedules, service times and staffing and stress-test these models to assess the impact of increased demand and staff shortages. We also provide an interactive applet, allowing users to explore vaccine administration under their own assumptions.
RESULTS
RESULTS
Based on our assumed service times, the daily throughput for an eight-hour clinic at a mass vaccination hub ranged from 500 doses for a small hub to 1400 doses for a large hub. For GP clinics, the estimated daily throughput ranged from about 100 doses for a small practice to almost 300 doses for a large practice. What-if scenario analysis showed that sites with higher staff numbers were more robust to system pressures and mass vaccination sites were more robust than GP clinics.
CONCLUSIONS
CONCLUSIONS
With the requirement for ongoing COVID-19 booster shots, mass vaccination is likely to be a continuing feature of healthcare delivery. Different vaccine sites are useful for reaching different populations and maximising coverage. Stochastic queue networks offer a flexible and computationally efficient approach to simulate vaccination queues and estimate waiting times and daily throughput to inform service delivery.
Identifiants
pubmed: 35986322
doi: 10.1186/s12913-022-08447-8
pii: 10.1186/s12913-022-08447-8
pmc: PMC9388987
doi:
Types de publication
Journal Article
Langues
eng
Sous-ensembles de citation
IM
Pagination
1059Informations de copyright
© 2022. The Author(s).
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